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cover the plain. The slave loosened from the sand a pike whose point was broken off, and when the bark floated upon the waters, he guided it as though he had been the most skilful of pilots. Borne along upon the swelling tide, we advanced far into the interior country upon the banks of a river bordered with forests.

"The country was well known to the Frank. He descended into the water, and again taking me upon his shoulders, he carried me into a kind of cavern in which the Barbarians were accustomed in times of war to deposit their grain. He there made me recline upon a bed of moss and gave me a little wine to refresh me."

"Poor unfortunate"-said he, speaking to me in his proper tongue"I am constrained to leave "you, and you will be obliged to pass the night "alone. I hope to bring you good news in the "morning; meanwhile, endeavour to obtain a little sleep." So saying, he stretched over me his sagum, of which he deprived himself to cover me, and disappeared in the woods."

THE ARGUMENT.

Continuation of the recital. Eudorus becomes the slave of Pharamond. History of Zachariah. Clotilda, the wife of Pharamond. Commencement of Christianity among the Franks. Return of Spring. Chase. Barbarians of the North. Tomb of Ovid. Eudorus saves the life of Merovius. Merovius promises liberty to Eudorus. Return of the hunters to the camp of Pharamond. The goddess Hertha. Festival of the Franks. They deliberate whether to prefer war or peace with the Romans. Dispute between Camuloginus and Chloderic. The Franks determine to sue for peace. Eudorus is liberated, and commissioned by the Franks to propose peace to Constantius. Zachariah conducts Eudorus to the confines of Gaul. Their parting

BOOK VII.

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"By Hercules," cried Demodocus, interrupting the narrative of Eudorus, "I have ever loved the disciples of Esculapius! They are kind to man, and are acquainted with hidden things. They are found among gods, centaurs, heroes and rustic swains. My son, what was the name of this divine Barbarian, for whom Jupiter, alas, seems not to have emptied the cup of prosperity? The ruler of the clouds determines the fate of mortals according to his pleasure he confers happiness upon one, and plunges another into every species of wretchedness. The king of Ithaca was reduced so low as to experience an emotion of joy in reclining upon a bed of dried leaves which his own hands had gathered. Formerly, in the age of simplicity and virtue, a favourite of the god of Epidaurus would have been the friend and companion of warriors: now, he is a slave among an inhospitable people. But haste, son of Lasthenes, to tell me the name of your liberator, for I would fain honour him as Nestor honoured Machaon.'

"His name among the Franks, was Harold,”

replied Eudorus, smiling. "He returned, according to his promise, at the first dawn of day. He was accompanied by a female clothed in a robe tinged with purple; her neck and arms were bare, agreeably to the custom of the Franks. Her features offered, at the first view, an inexplicable mixture of barbarism and humanity: it was the expression of a countenance naturally harsh and savage, corrected by the habitual exercise of sweetness and compassion."

"Young Greek," said the slave addressing me, "render your acknowledgments to Clotilda, the wife of Pharamond, my master. She has obtain

ed for you the protection of her husband: she has come in person to see you and to secure you from the Franks. When your wounds are healed, you will doubtless prove yourself her grateful and obedient slave."

"A number of slaves then entered the cavern. They placed me upon branches of trees interlaced, and carried me to the camp of my master.

“The Franks, notwithstanding their valour and the rising of the sea, had been obliged to yield the victory to the discipline of the legions: happy in being able to escape total destruction, they retired before the conquerors. I was thrown, with others of the wounded, into a chariot. They marched fifteen days and fifteen nights, burying themselves in the north, and halted not until they

thought themselves safe from the pursuit of Constantius.

"Until then I had hardly been sensible of the horror of my situation. But as soon as repose began to heal my wounds, I looked around me with terror and dismay. I saw myself imbosomed in forests, a slave amongst Barbarians, and imprisoned in a hut surrounded by a circle of young trees, whose limbs were closely interwoven. A thick

drink extracted from grain, a small portion of barley bruised between two stones, a few morsels of deer's or roebuck's flesh, which pity sometimes induced them to throw to me, formed the whole of my nourishment. Half the day was I left alone upon my bed of withered leaves; but I suffered much more from the presence than from the absence of the Barbarians. The odour of the bear'sgrease, mixed with ashes, which they rubbed upon their hair-the vapours of the broiling fleshthe confined air of the hut, and the cloud of smoke, with which it was constantly filled, suffocated me. Thus was I recompensed, by a just Providence, for the delicacies of Naples, and for the pleasures and voluptuousness in which I had there indulged.

"The old slave, occupied by his particular duties, could afford but a few minutes to console me in my wretchedness. I was always astonished at the uniform serenity of his countenance in the midst of the evils with which he was oppressed.

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